The average cost of room and board in the 2018-19 school year at a four-year public university is $11,140, and $12,680 at a private four-year school.
- The College Board (2018)
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Our Belief
When we are children, we all dream of becoming someone memorable, someone who has an impact on our culture and community. Along the way, though, most of us fall victim to settling for mediocrity because we focus too heavily on doing things for our own selfish gains. I Do It For Her is the message that we should instead realize how our lives can be a testament to the inspiration others have on us and how that inspiration can be a source of unending motivation in pursuit of “becoming someone better than you ever thought possible”.
Our Work
I Do It For Her, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, provides financial scholarships to under-privileged youth in the St. Louis, MO, area to receive a meaningful education through a partnership with the KIPP Charter School programs. There is no shortcut to honest success and we know that the best way for someone to break the vicious cycle of poverty most low-income students struggle with is through college level schooling. But with soaring tuition costs across the country at most public and private universities, that very thing is sadly out of reach for those who need it most. The value and power of a bright young mind is vital to any facet of life, and should be encouraged, regardless of their economic status.
Unlike most scholarships though, we don’t simply award money and hope for the best outcome. Instead, we also provide mentoring to recipients and stay involved with their academic careers every step of the way. This allows us to be more involved with each student’s success and to also be a resource for them and the challenges they face as first-generation college students.
Additionally, we make it a requirement that each scholarship recipient gives back to their community through a volunteer opportunity of their choosing for at least 10 hours each semester. It’s important that we never forget that someone else’s life-situation will always be worse than our own and this renews a sense of accountability and ownership for the students to uphold the personal standards of our organization.
Our Story
The I Do It For Her Foundation was created in 2012 as the brainchild of founders Adam Casey & Jason Klarfeld. Having volunteered with refugee children in Kosovo, HIV positive families in Kenya and orphans in Southeast Asia, the young & driven duo have set their hearts on changing lives in their own community. Both having been inspired by the love of a single figure in their past, they recognize that a person's comfort zones are the only thing holding them back from greatness.